Editor's Note: How far can a beam of light reach? Selfless volunteers are on the front line of emergency rescue, disaster relief and epidemic prevention, and wherever they are needed, from caring for the lonely elderly to helping poverty-stricken students, from giving lectures in classrooms to gathering garbage along the Yellow River. According to statistics, as of September 2022, there were more than 1.29 million volunteer teams in China, with 220 million registered volunteers, accounting for 15.9% of the total population of China.

December 5, 2022 is the 37th International Volunteer Day, which was mandated by the United Nations General Assembly in 1985 to recognize and promote the tireless work of volunteers across the globe. If each volunteer is a bright light, then countless volunteers are a starry sky, illuminating the world and warming people's hearts.

On Sept. 28, 2022, a community volunteer works on a wall painting in Yanxili Community, Haigang District, Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province. [Photo/VCG]

In the early morning of Nov. 21, 2022, Gan Huifang, Party branch secretary and president of the "Blue Ribbon" Volunteers Association in Gong'an County, Jingzhou City, Hubei Province, fell ill suddenly after participating in four public welfare activities for the "left-behind children," whose parents are migrant workers, in a row and died at 50. The picture shows Gan at a rescue site to prevent a local river from bursting its dykes. [Photo courtesy of China Volunteers Association]

In early November 2022, at the fifth China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, thousands of volunteers nicknamed "little leaves" from various universities in the city show the world the style of young Chinese volunteers in the new era: aspiring, responsible, hardworking and striving to be their best. [Photo/VCG]